Empire Home Center

Empire Home Center is a home goods and building materials retailer located at 2741 Bernville Road in Leesport, Pennsylvania, just north of Reading in Berks County. The store carries products used in kitchen and bathroom remodeling, flooring projects, and general interior updates, along with furniture and decorative items for the home. It operates as a small business and serves homeowners, landlords, and contractors working throughout the Reading area and the surrounding townships.

The Bernville Road location places the showroom on a well traveled corridor between Reading and the Route 183 and Route 222 corridors, which makes it reachable for customers coming from Leesport, Bern Township, Wyomissing, Shillington, Sinking Spring, Hamburg, and points further out in Berks, Schuylkill, and Lebanon counties. Parking is on site, and both the parking lot and the entrance are wheelchair accessible.

Products and Departments

Empire Home Center is organized as a large showroom rather than a warehouse aisle format, which allows customers to see finished materials in person before ordering. The product range covers most of the surfaces and fixtures involved in a renovation:

• Kitchen cabinetry in a range of door styles, finishes, and construction types, including stock and semi custom lines
• Bathroom vanities, vanity tops, medicine cabinets, and related storage
• Countertops in granite, quartz, and laminate, with slab and sample viewing available in the showroom
• Flooring, including hardwood, engineered wood, luxury vinyl plank, laminate, and carpet
• Ceramic, porcelain, and natural stone tile for floors, walls, backsplashes, and shower surrounds
• Interior and exterior doors, trim, and hardware
• Plumbing fixtures such as sinks, faucets, toilets, tubs, and shower enclosures
• Lighting and ceiling fans
• Furniture, including sofas, sectionals, dining sets, bedroom furniture, and mattresses
• Area rugs, mirrors, wall decor, and seasonal home accents

Because the store stocks several categories under one roof, customers working on a full kitchen or bath can coordinate cabinets, countertops, tile, flooring, and fixtures in a single visit instead of sourcing each element from a different supplier. Staff can pull samples from different departments so colors and finishes can be compared side by side under the same lighting.

Design and Sales Support

One of the defining features of the business is the role its sales associates play in the planning stage. Rather than functioning purely as a cash and carry outlet, Empire Home Center assigns customers a point of contact who walks them through material selection, measurements, and layout questions. For kitchen and bathroom projects, associates can produce cabinet layouts and renderings based on room dimensions, suggest storage configurations, and flag potential issues with appliance clearances, plumbing locations, or door swings before an order is placed.

This kind of support matters most on projects where the number of choices becomes difficult to narrow down. Cabinet door profiles, stain and paint colors, countertop edge treatments, tile sizes, grout colors, and hardware finishes all interact, and an associate who knows the current product lines can shorten the process considerably. Customers planning a remodel are generally best served by bringing room measurements, photographs, and any existing samples with them on a first visit.

Installation Services

In addition to supplying materials, Empire Home Center arranges installation through its own crews for categories such as cabinetry, countertops, flooring, and tile. Customers who prefer to handle the labor themselves or who already work with a contractor can buy materials alone. For those who use the store's installation service, the sequence typically begins with an in home measurement, followed by a written quote covering both materials and labor, then scheduling once products arrive.

Countertop work usually requires a template appointment after base cabinets are set, since stone and quartz are cut to the exact dimensions of the installed run. Flooring installation may involve subfloor preparation, removal and disposal of existing material, and acclimation time for wood products. Customers planning around a specific completion date should discuss lead times early, since cabinet and countertop orders are often the longest items in a renovation timeline.

Delivery

Delivery is available for furniture, appliances, cabinetry, flooring, and other bulky items. This is a practical consideration for customers buying full room sets or pallets of tile, and it allows people without trucks or trailers to order confidently. Delivery scheduling, access requirements such as stairs or narrow doorways, and any assembly expectations should be confirmed at the time of purchase.

Pricing Approach

Empire Home Center competes on price against national home improvement chains and furniture retailers, and the store runs periodic sales events throughout the year. Associates often let regular customers know when a promotion is approaching, which can matter for large orders where timing makes a meaningful difference. Customers comparing quotes should ask about what is included in a given figure, since cabinet pricing may or may not cover items like crown molding, toe kick, filler strips, soft close hardware, and delivery.

Visiting the Store

The showroom accommodates both quick errands and longer design appointments. Shoppers picking up a single item, a few boxes of tile, or a replacement fixture can usually be in and out quickly, while anyone planning a full kitchen or bathroom should expect to spend considerably more time and may want to call ahead to confirm that a design associate is available. Wi-Fi is available in the store, which is useful for pulling up photographs, inspiration images, or measurements saved on a phone.

Payment is accepted by debit card, credit card, and NFC mobile payment methods such as contactless phone and watch taps. The store can be reached by phone at +1 610-926-0500 for questions about stock, lead times, measurement appointments, or delivery scheduling.

Practical Tips for Shoppers

• Bring accurate room measurements, including ceiling height, window and door locations, and the positions of plumbing and electrical outlets
• Photograph the space from several angles, including the adjoining rooms, so finishes can be coordinated
• Ask about lead times on special order cabinetry and countertops before committing to a construction schedule
• Order flooring and tile with an overage allowance for cuts, waste, and future repairs, and keep leftover material from the same production lot
• Confirm in writing what is included in an installation quote, including demolition, disposal, and subfloor or substrate work
• Ask when upcoming sales events are scheduled if the project timeline allows flexibility

Role in the Local Market

For Berks County homeowners, the store fills a space between big box retailers and specialty design studios. It carries enough breadth to handle an entire renovation, keeps materials on display so decisions can be made in person, and pairs the purchase with in house measurement and installation when that is wanted. Contractors and property owners handling multiple units also use the store as a local materials source that avoids longer trips toward Philadelphia or Allentown.